A bit of a flap has arised over what the local newspapers have described as a charitable act by a BART agent. It seems he gave some $300 worth of unusued tickets to the grandson of a friend of his, knowing that it violated policy, and was subsequently fired from his job of six years.
The facts of the case are somewhat bizzare. The grandson, having school difficulties in Oakley and/or El Sobrante, chose to attend a charter school in San Francisco, and had to bus and train it into S.F. This leads one to ask the fairly obvious question: "Why San Francisco?" There are alternative schools close to both of his residences. The Flex Academy has been around for a year or two, does some on-line teaching along with in class activities. It is a school chartered in and funded by the San Francisco Unified School District for San Francisco students, which may bring into question the young man's attendance from out of the City.
Leaving that aside, the boy qualified for the BART student discount tickets, but used them only "sporadically", according to his grandfather, so the cost factor which supposedly led to the agent illegally providing tickets many also be questionable.
The grandfather is quoted as saying he "...can't help feeling his is responsible (for the firing)" Ah...yeah, but not as much as the BART agent who amassed those tickets, against policy and gave them away, also against policy. We all support charity. It is unfortunate that the BART agent's charity didn't have the added advantage of using his own money.
